Our first list of the year contains thirty interesting archives and manuscripts, most of them freshly catalogued over the past two months. Highlights include a fantastic and charming travelogue of a journey from England to the Amazon illustrated with photos and drawings; a lengthy manuscript describing travel through Africa in great detail; a manuscript map from Mexico; two western American diaries; a large archive of a Colorado mining family; antebellum business letters from New Orleans; a weird manuscript from the 1980s about tarot; an Oklahoma teenager’s high school scrapbook; and much more. Enjoy!
Download PDF of List #24 - Manuscripts & Archives
Morrison, Ill. 1889, 1891-1892]. Twenty-three letters, [48]pp. total. Folio sheets. Old fold lines, minor scattered soiling and wear. In a legible hand. An archive of correspondence between an Illinois sheep farmer and his South Dakota-based farm manager detailing business over the course of several years. George Brown, based in Morrison..... More
Iowa City: [1892, 1894]. Small quarto. Spine ends slightly chipped; light wear to edges and spine cloth. Occasional small patches of staining; light tanning. "Revised edition," published in 1894 by University of Iowa botany professor T.H. McBride, of a workbook for students of the subject to record their plant finds..... More
[Toronto, Ia.]: 1882-1918. [224]pp. Folio. Original black half calf and cloth, spine gilt. Corners and spine ends a bit worn. Text block separating from spine, but still sound. Several leaves loose, lightly soiled. Large folio ledger recording thirty-five years of health data for Clinton County, Iowa, comprising the minutes of..... More
[Mexico: 1846]. Manuscript map, approximately 13 x 17.25 inches. Folded; original hand color. Moderate chipping and several short closed tears at edges; three minor losses within map area. Light ink offsetting; Light tanning and scattered faint foxing. A neat manuscript map that delineates the boundaries of the small Mexican town..... More
[Carson City, Nv. 1877]. 246 leaves. Oblong octavo. Original quarter cloth and marbled boards. Spine and edges somewhat worn; text block cocked. Internally clean. A fascinating manuscript receipt book that documents the types and amounts of freight carried by the Virginia & Truckee Railroad during the first half of May..... More
New York: 1883-1891. Ninety mortgages and other related documents; most comprised of multiple pages. Folio. Typed and handwritten material. Documents folded into quarters. Light scattered soiling and wear, but condition generally strong. Substantial archive of mortgages held by the American Loan and Trust Company, consisting primarily of mortgages for railroads..... More
Durango, Co. 1919. [188]pp., approximately 24,000 words. Small octavo journal, original black pebbled cloth. Light wear at edges and spine ends; hinges a bit loose. Accomplished in a neat, legible hand. Light tanning. An extensive diary for 1919 kept by widow Dilla Raymond of Durango, Colorado, where she lived with..... More
[Okinawa: 1945-1946]. 363 original photographs, most 3.25 x 4.5 or 3.75 x 5 inches. Loose photos, some curling to approximately half of group. About 200 images neatly removed from previous album or other housing, with adhesive remnants on blank versos. Pencil annotations with dates and locations on a substantial minority..... More